however, a person with the university of california energy center says it's unlikely there's a conspiracy going on by the oil companies. >> what might be going on and it would still be very difficult to detect is individual companies figuring out that if they put a little less gasoline on the market, the prices will be a bit higher. and if that's the case, it's going to be very difficult to detect and even if we did there's nothing illegal about that. >> reporter: so there's nothing against the law about gaming the system. but what is there about the system that allows it to be gamed here in california as opposed to other states? >> reporter: the problem is we use a blend of gasoline not used anywhere else in the country. as a result when we get into a supply problem, we can't import gasoline used in other parts of the country to smooth out that shortage. >> reporter: and while the governor's order to allow the winter blend gas to come in is no long-term answer to the problem, at this point the public will take any relief they can get. >> it all counts. 22 bucks, huh? oh, not really cool,